I've got an iPad running iOS version 4.x and I want to upgrade to iOS 5 but I'm currently in the middle east. iPads in the middle east don't have FaceTime installed on them. I'm a little worried that if download the latest version of iOS the apple update site would notice my IP address and give me a version of iOS without FaceTime.

Is the version of iOS downloaded for an update based on location/ip address or device serial number?

3 Answers
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AFAIK, hardware wise they are all the same (well outside of storage and 3G) it is serial number that determines some features. The serial number has a country code in it and the update process can determine which applications need to be removed. If, for example the SN country code is in the EU, the volume has to be limited and the radio has to be adjusted for differences in Wifi channels.